Justice, from the ‘Stanza della Segnatura’ (1509 – 1511) by Raphael

  • Date and place of the event
    September 18-19, 2026 (hybrid format).
    14 bldg. 3 Kadashevskaya Embankment, Moscow, Russia.
    ICLRC Library
  • Language
    Russian and English
The conference marks the fifteenth anniversary of International Justice (Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie), the first Russian-language journal devoted exclusively to international courts and international adjudication, and one of the leading academic journals in international law published in Russian. The Journal is an independent non-state academic publication.

Over the past fifteen years, not only the number of international courts and tribunals but also the place of adjudication within international law has changed. The subject matter of international litigation has expanded, new categories of participants have gained access to proceedings, advisory proceedings and provisional measures have acquired greater importance, and the same legal questions increasingly arise before international, regional integration and domestic courts.

At the same time, debates about the limits of the judicial function, difficulties with compliance, and tensions between adjudication and diplomatic or other peaceful means of settling international disputes have become more visible. The conference therefore considers a double movement: the expanded reach and ambition of international adjudication, and the growing contestation of its authority, limits and practical effectiveness.

International adjudication does not form a single judicial system. Interstate courts, human rights bodies, investment tribunals, regional integration courts and domestic courts applying international law derive their authority from different legal foundations, follow different procedures and provide access to different categories of participants. They do not, however, operate in isolation. Legal arguments, interpretive approaches and procedural solutions travel across jurisdictions and contribute to mutual influence and judicial cross-fertilization.

The conference approaches international adjudication simultaneously as a means of resolving concrete disputes, a means of clarifying and developing international law, and an institutional practice whose authority depends on consent, the quality of legal reasoning, procedural fairness, the support of relevant legal and political constituencies, and the practical effect of decisions.

PROGRAM

September 18, 2026
Opening of the Conference and Presentation of International Justice

Welcoming remarks:
Maxim A. Likhachev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of International Law, V.F. Yakovlev Ural State Law University; Editorial Board Member of International Justice;
Dmitry V. Krasikov – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, MJur (Oxon), Head of the Department of International Law at Saratov State Law Academy, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Justice

Presentation of the journal:
Andrey A. Lunyov — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of International Law, V.F. Yakovlev Ural State Law University; Editorial Board Member of International Justice
After the Climate Advisory Trilogy: From Obligations to Responsibility and Remedies

Moderator: Alexander M. Solntsev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of International Law at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba; Editorial Board Member of International Justice

The climate agenda and the metamorphosis of international justiceия
Maxim A. Likhachev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of International Law, V.F. Yakovlev Ural State Law University; Editorial Board Member of International Justice

Climateization of international law
Alexander M. Solntsev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of International Law at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba

Approaches of national courts to establishing causation in climate litigation against major greenhouse gas emitters
Yuri Ev. Rovnov — Research Fellow at the Laboratory of International Justice, HSE University
The Advisory Turn: Legal Clarification Without Contentious Jurisdiction?

Moderator: Sofia S. Sarenkova – Head of Public International Law, International and Comparative Law Research Center

Roundtable speakers

Alfredo Crosato Neumann – Assistant Professor of International Law, Kadir Has University; Visiting Professor, St Petersburg University; counsel in proceedings before international courts and tribunals, including the ICJ and ITLOS;

Dr. Omri Sender ­– Partner, Chair of the Public International Law Practice Group at S. Horowitz, counsel in proceedings before international courts and tribunals, including the ICJ and ITLOS;

Kirill V. Entin – International BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, HSE University; former Deputy Registrar and Head of the Legal Research and Analysis Department, Court of the EAEU; member of the Editorial Board of International Justice;

Dr Elia Alexiou – Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg
Regional Integration Courts: Shaping Effectiveness Through the Bench

Moderators: Dmitry V. Krasikov – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor, MJur (Oxon), Head of the Department of International Law at Saratov State Law Academy, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Justice;
Kirill V. Entin – Candidate of Legal Sciences, International BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, HSE University; former Deputy Registrar and Head of the Legal Research and Analysis Department, Court of the EAEU; Editorial Board Member of International Justice

Judicial dialogue between the EAEU Court and national judicial bodies
Alexey A. Dronov – Chairman of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union (since 2024)

Locus standi of private individuals before the EAEU Court
Olga V. Kadysheva – Associate Professor and Acting Head of the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University

The rights of physical persons in the case law of the ECJ and EAEU Court
Vadim Val. Voynikov — Doctor of Law, researcher of European Union law and regional integration, and Director of the Law Institute at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University

Issues regarding the enforcement of judgments and the impact of the EAEU Court’s practice
Konstantin L. Chayka — Doctor of Law, Chief Researcher at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Judge of the Court of the EurAsEC (2012–2014) and the Court of the EAEU (2015–2023)
Guest Speaker Intervention

Abuse
Prof. Dr. András Sajó – Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2008–2017); Editorial Council Member of Comparative Constitutional Law
Fifteen Years After: What Has Changed in International Adjudication?

Moderators:
Alfredo Crosato Neumann – Assistant Professor of International Law, Kadir Has University; Visiting Professor, St Petersburg University;
Dmitry G. Bartenev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University (2018-2023), attorney, and Head of the Human Rights Practice at the ONEGIN Group — Medical Advocacy Law

Have we reached the high water mark of international adjudication?
Karen J. Alter – Norman Dwight Harris Professor of International Relations and Professor of Political Science and Law, Northwestern University; specialist in comparative international courts and the politics of international law

Why International Courts Issue Conflicting Rulings in Similar Cases: Case Law from the Perspective of Cognitive Bias Theory
Andrey N. Medushevsky — Doctor of Philosophy, Professor at the HSE University; specialist in comparative constitutionalism, the sociology of law, and global constitutionalism: Chair, Editorial Council of Comparative Constitutional Law

The ICAO Council as a Body for Resolving Interstate Disputes: Quo Vadis?
Alexander A. Batalov — Representative of Russia to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Doctor of Law

The CIS Economic Court: Transition to a New Operating Model and Cases for 2026
Oleg V. Zaytsev — judge of the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Doctor of Law, Professor
September 19, 2026
Guest Speaker Intervention

The changing role of the international courts
Prof. Dr. DDr. Angelika Nußberger - Professor of Law and Director of the Academy for Human Rights Protection in Europe at the University of Cologne; a judge at the European Court of Human Rights (2011–2019); and a member of the Editorial Council of International Justice
International Law Before the National Court: Application, Resistance and Dialogue

Moderators:
Maxim A. Likhachev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of International Law, V.F. Yakovlev Ural State Law University; Editorial Board Member of International Justice;
Anatoly I. Kovler – Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation, former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Head of the Centre for International Law at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, and Chair of the Editorial Council of International Justice

Judicial protection in an era of uncertainty regarding monist and dualist models
Dmitry I. Dedov — Doctor of Law, Professor at the Faculty of Law of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2013–2022)

Harmonization or "Fragmentation"? On the Interpretation of International Legal Norms by International Human Rights Courts and Its Consequences
Maria A. Filatova — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the HSE School of International Law; specialist in human rights and international justice; member of the Editorial Board of International Justice

International Law in Russian Courts as an Indicator of the Country’s Attitude Towards It
Sergey Yu. Marochkin — Doctor of Law, Professor at Tyumen State University
Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Positive Harmonization or a New Gap in the System?

Moderators:
Natalia Iv. Gaidaenko-Sher — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at MGIMO; member of the Russian delegation participating in the discussions of UNCITRAL Working Group III;
Ilya M. Lifshits — Doctor of Law, Professor of International Law at the Russian Foreign Trade Academy; member of the Editorial Board of International Justice

Initiative to create an international investment court: Russian perspective
Lev Val. Gershanok - Candidate of Legal Sciences, Director of the Legal Department of the Ministry of
Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Establishing a Permanent Court for investment disputes: international legal constraints and possible solutions
Sofia S. Sarenkova – Head of Public International Law, International and Comparative Law Research Center

Initial results of the ISDS reform: coexistence of arbitration and a Permanent Investment Court
Alexey S. Ispolinov — Doctor of Law, Professor of International Law at the Russian Foreign Trade Academy

Multiple arbitral proceedings in investment disputes as a reflection of the general problem of parallel proceedings in international adjudication
Sof’ya D. Pimenova — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Lecturer at the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University; member of the Editorial Board of International Justice
International Disputes from Counsel’s Perspective: Forum, Evidence and Enforcement

Moderators:
Yulia N. Mullina — Director of the International and Comparative Law Research Center;
Maria A. Filatova — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the HSE School of International Law; specialist in human rights and international justice; member of the Editorial Board of International Justice

Distribution of work between the government agency and the client, Russian and foreign representatives, experts and evidence specialists; the impact of restrictive measures on the implementation of procedural rights
Vladimir V. Talanov - Partner of the EPAM law firm

Coordination of parallel proceedings, prevention of conflicting procedural positions, taking into account the enforceability of the decision already upon presentation of the claim
Olga A. Tsvetkova – Managing partner of the Brevia law firm

Collection of evidence, search for assets, interim measures and enforcement of decisions in several states
Sergey V. Lysov - lawyer, advisor at the law firm MZS (“Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov and partners”)
Immunity and Inviolability in Domestic Jurisdictions: Property, Premises, Archives and Data

Moderator: Ilya V. Rachkov – Candidate of Legal Sciences, LL.M., advocate, Partner at Nektorov, Saveliev & Partners, lecturer at St Petersburg University, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of International Justice

Roundtable Speakers:

Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Reciprocity
Vladislav V. Starzhenetsky — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the HSE School of International Law; Head of the Laboratory of International Justice

Immunity and Inviolability of the Archives of Intergovernmental Organisations versus Human Rights Obligations
Dmitry G. Bartenev — Candidate of Legal Sciences, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University (2018-2023), attorney, and Head of the Human Rights Practice at the ONEGIN Group — Medical Advocacy Law